Pietersen in pledge to make sure he'll stay fit for Test purpose

I’m all white: Pietersen says he’ll always be there for Test cricket, but doubts it will always be there for him

Kevin Pietersen today confirmed his commitment to Test cricket, pledging he will cut back on his gruelling training to ensure he can play for England in all forms of the game.

Pietersen is out of the rest of the Ashes after undergoing surgery on his Achilles tendon, and last week raised fears he was ready to follow Andrew Flintoff into Test retirement by claiming the oldest form of the game could be dead in 10 years.

Pietersen's injury broke a run of 54 successive Tests since his debut in 2005, and while he remains committed to five-day cricket, he repeated his warning that Twenty20 was putting its survival in serious jeopardy.

He said: "I will not be giving up any form of the game at the moment. Test cricket is the best. Playing Australia is amazing, but I also love one-day and Twenty20 cricket, so I will not be doing anything different.

"I do not have to describe any more times how much Test cricket means to me, and I'll play as much as I can, because I enjoy it so much, but I do fear for Test cricket, because outside England, people do not support it.

"The lack of full houses at Tests around the world shows that people are being swayed away from Test matches towards Twenty20.

"When the support goes, it will be difficult to keep playing the game, because players will want to play the form of the game which attracts the most support."

Fitness fanatic Pietersen builds up for international cricket by going on huge runs, although he denies that pounding the beach in Durban during his stint in the Indian Premier League aggravated his Achilles problem.

"What I will have to do is maybe taper down some of the training I do," said Pietersen, who is expected to be out of action for at least six weeks. "If I make it more specific to my needs, I shouldn't have any more injury problems."

Pietersen will hope to have many more such moments at the home of cricket, but it was revealed today that Lord's will need to enter a bidding war to secure an Ashes Test in 2013.

Under the England & Wales Cricket Board's revised bidding system, Tests are now allocated on a commercial rather than historic basis, meaning only Durham and The Brit Oval are certain to host Tests against Australia in 2013.

The MCC confirmed today they would "bid strongly" for the rights, and expressed confidence that Lord's status as England's biggest and most famous cricket ground would give them the edge over other bidders.

It is the first time Durham, which lost out to Cardiff in the fight to host a Test in the current series, has been awarded an Ashes game.

The MCC also expect to bid for one of the two Tests between Pakistan and Australia to be held in England next summer.